Golden State Warriors forward Stephen Jackson shouts after the Warrriors scored late in the fourth quarter of their 125-108 win over the Sacramento Kings in an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, April 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) EFE OUT

You probably know the story. During preseason, Jackson, then with the Pacers, was arrested after firing several warning shots from his handgun outside a nightclub.

That incident, and Jackson's role in the infamous brawl in Detroit two seasons ago, kind of labeled him.

When the Warriors pulled their version of the Brinks Robbery in January, obtaining Jackson and Al Harrington for Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy, the Bay Area's collective sigh of relief sounded like Jackson had shot holes in the Goodyear Blimp.

But there was concern in Warrior Nation. Stephen Jackson?! That guy? All the off-court baggage, plus a bad (basketball) shooting percentage, no rebounds, too few assists, and a rep for whining to the refs?

"You're about to see why the Pacers were so happy to get rid of him," one Indiana fan e-mailed me just after the trade.

Three months later, Jackson is not only a key starting-lineup component of the new, improved Go-Go Warriors, but a true team leader and respected dude in the locker room.

Jackson and Harrington brought a new vibe to the Warriors.

"Once those two guys came over," said Jason Richardson, "it was like, 'Finally, I'm on an NBA team where guys like each other and are hangin' out.' I never had anything like that in five years."

Jackson, 29, took the scenic route to the NBA. He skipped college (academic issues) and played in the Continental Basketball Association, Australia, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. The Warriors are his fifth NBA team, not counting being cut by the Suns when he was 19.

That kind of knocking around might sour a fellow, but it turned Jackson into a guy who rolls with the punches and sees the lighter side.

"I took it all as something that made me stronger," Jackson said.

And looser. When Jackson gets onto the team bus, he engages everyone. In the locker room, don't even try to be all tight and game-facey. Jack (as his teammates call him) will be on you.

"Jackson, very gradually and in the right way, has moved up the ladder into a leadership role," coach Don Nelson said. "Baron is the leader of this team, but I'd say Jackson is his backup."

Jackson is wingman to Davis, and to Nelson.

"He wants to win," Nelson says. "He gets on people when they're not doing their job. He supports me when I have to get on players. He's had my back on several occasions. Occasionally I'll say (to Davis or Jackson), 'Hey, you need to talk to so-and-so (a teammate).' "

The coach-player bonding is so extreme that Jackson has violated a sacred NBA code by not only professing great respect for his coach, but also love. Yes, Jackson uses the L word when talking about Nelson. In the locker room in Portland after the Warriors clinched their playoff berth, Jackson screamed the L word in reference to Nelson.

Jackson defies easy categorization. He kissed off college ("I wasn't really a school guy, coming up," he said) but has opened a small school in his storm-ravaged hometown of Port Arthur, Texas.

The man who went into the stands in Detroit and fired that gun into the air in Indianapolis had the faith and confidence of Warriors' vice president Chris Mullin when the trade was in the works.

"I knew people who knew him," Mullin explained. "If anybody's been given a second chance, it's me, and I always try to have that feeling for other people. I guess it (trading for Jackson) was just knowing him, and having a little feel."

Sure enough, Jackson messed up the whole dreary chemistry of the Warriors.

What other NBA player would joke about being in trouble with the law (charges still pending for probation violation) for packing heat? What other player submits to a pregame frisking at midcourt?

"It's a little joke for all the people who think I'm a bad guy, who don't know me," Jackson said. "It's like, 'I got nothing on me, I just want to play basketball and have fun.' "

I asked Barnes if he has found anything on Jackson yet.

"No," Barnes said with a straight face, "he keeps all that stuff in the locker room."